Case
Alternative Assessments

I am a high school 9th grade math teacher. I love alternative assessments and think they are a great tool for sparking interests in students. I also feel if the hard work is put it, it is a grade booster for students. I always loved projects when I was in school. I hated constantly working from the book. The curriculum has changed so much and has made no sense of the order of concepts being taught. In 9th grade, I do a great project in Unit 4 - data. The students get to use a partner and work an entire week on collecting data and creating their project to present. However, all my other topics (equations, systems, functions, sequencing, slope, etc.) are very hard to find or create projects. I did this year implement a "solving systems of equations by graphing" station activity. It was a "maze" that students had to solve correctly in order to complete the maze in the correct order. I found something similar for substituting and eliminating system. Any ideas on other alternative assessments (projects) for 9th grade coordinate algebra? How do you feel about alternative assessments. I have had other teachers tell me it is a waste of time.

Posted on: 10/13/14 | Views: 774
Solution #1
While I do not teach 9th grade, I do see your vision for project based learning. Alternative assessments are a great tool to have students create meaningful, real-world connections to their learning. You could try products to spark an interest. A product is a brochure, poster, book, student made website or avatars to discuss learning topics. For instance, in the area of functions, a student could create an avatar that tells what functions are used for, and how other students can apply it in their study habits. There are many useful websites that allow teachers to create student profiles, and create cartoons, comics, and so much more. As far as brochures and posters, students could take the same concept, but apply it being creative with tactile materials to show learning. This is a great way to get students thinking about learning, and showing what they know.
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Solution #2
When I was in High School, My teacher for math had a great project. It was a phone plan project that used restraints to create a system of equations which, when compiled, created a graph. We had to create a graph with two cellphone companies and also had to create our own plan at the end. The base amount of minutes were the 'b' in y=mx+b. The cost per minute was m. We were also given some use case scenarios to determine the best phone plan for the use. e.g. you only use 40min of talk time. You could modernize it to be MB of data.
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Solution #3
Hi ygepyt, First, don't let yourself get down about this. You are doing great work attempting to make 9th grade math fun... While you are excited about math (and probably were as a student), not a ton of students care about it. Additionally, think of all the changes in math in our state over and over and over again... It's insane! I don't have any specific ideas on AA for your course... But, I am a huge fan of Alternative Assessments. Continue to find ways to make math "fun." If they are learning and can show they are meeting standards, make it your own! Kids like learning when they don't know it's happening. You got this!
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